


Salt and the Sea (a SoRiku story)

by PaopuFruitAndPeaches



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Axel & Roxas Friendship (Kingdom Hearts), Destiny Islands (Kingdom Hearts), Don't hate me It's my first story ever, Eventual Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), F/M, Fluff, Hollow Bastion | Radiant Garden, Human Sora (Kingdom Hearts), M/M, Mermaid Riku, Might add more people, Minor Axel/Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Minor Kairi/Roxas, Nervous Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Not Canon Compliant, Protective Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Riku and Xion are Siblings, Riku is a mermaid hybrid and can live on land for a bit, Riku is a waiter, Roxas and Sora Are Siblings (Kingdom Hearts), Sora Is a Ray of Sunshine (Kingdom Hearts), Sora is a lifegaurd, Soriku - Freeform, Twilight Town (Kingdom Hearts), maybe eventual smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28379577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaopuFruitAndPeaches/pseuds/PaopuFruitAndPeaches
Summary: Sora has always loved the water, despite almost drowning in the ocean when he was little. All he can remember from that day is flashes of silver and aquamarine, and pale hands pulling him from the water. He felt safe and warm in their arms. He'd give anything to know who saved him.Riku is the illegitimate son of the Destiny Island territories leader, having a human mother and a merman for a father. He lives in his younger half-sister, Xion's, shadows for most of his childhood until he saves a tan boy, with blue eyes deeper than the sea, from drowning. He makes it his mission to always keep him safe, he watches him from the sea until one day him and his family leave the island.Will he ever see him again?
Relationships: Axel & Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Axel/Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. Growing Up (Riku)

Riku was son of the merman governor of the territory surrounding the beaches of Destiny Island, his mother was a human. Something his Father always made known as one of his disappointing moments.

He was the faulty child, older but always in the shadow of his younger sister, Xion. He could go on land because of his mother, but as she had died during his birth he didn’t have much of a reason to and he couldn’t be on land for long.

When he was younger he used to swim in the shallow water near the beaches, when he was eight he was collecting shells for his room when he heard violent, panicked kicking nearby. He hurried towards the noise and saw a young boy being pulled out into the waves. His chestnut hair soaked and his tan skin surrounded by the air bubbles escaping from his mouth.

Riku rushed over and pulled the boy close. He remembered a trick to help a human breathe underwater from a book he read, a kiss. He placed a kiss on his forehead and the now unconscious boy choked up water before regaining a slow calm breath.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the boy’s face, he was so peaceful and trusting even despite almost drowning.

The boy stirred in his arms and started to blink his sleepy deep blue eyes, Riku started to panic and rushed the boy back to the shore, quickly and painfully shifting his aquamarine tail into legs so he could pull the boy safely ashore.

Making sure he was safe and taking one last look through his silver bangs at the boys beautiful blue eyes blinking under tan eyelids. Before diving back into the water.

He was enchanted by the boy, and without any care from his father he checked up on the boy for the next year until the boy and his family were no longer at their house. He found it empty of the family and their things same with the rest of the island.

He studied his ability to transform into a human so as to escape from the depths of the lonely sea.

To find the boy, who he had learned from the year he watched him, went by the name Sora.

~

The water was warm under the August sun. Riku rolled over in his bed, his sea green tail shifting under the thin blanket. He had gotten used to them while staying on land so he charmed one to use when he decided to sleep underwater.

At this rate he only had to spend a day a month in his makeshift aquatic house.

He moved onto his back, forgetting he had fins and flinched as his dorsal fin bent uncomfortably under the weight of his tail.

Sighing he draped an arm across his forehead, blinking sleepily up at the sun rays that trickled through the still water above him.

He had been staying on the outskirts of Twilight Town for two years now, he’d somehow managed to score himself a job at the town’s bistro, and scored himself a small beach house a year and a half into his job. As he didn’t need to pay for food or housing on land until then.

Pushing the blanket off of him, Riku swam out of the ceiling exit of his room until he reached the hidden beach behind his house.

He crawled ashore until he was fully out of the water, he scrunched his eyes shut flinching as his tail withered away to reveal his pale bare legs.

Even though he had shifted many times before, waiting a month in between shifts made it hurt just like the first time.

He got up and shuffled over to the rock he had left his clothes on, just a loose navy t-shirt and some swim trunks.

Ironically enough they never had been used for swimming. They were more of a precautionary measure, just in case someone happened to be walking by his home. No one ever did but Riku thought it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

He walked up the sandy path to his back porch, opening the door that connected his porch to his kitchen.

Cursing under his breath at the sand still stuck to his already dry skin, he walked inside. I’ll have to clean this up later, he thought as sand was left behind with every step.

“Time to start the day.” Riku said going up to rinse the sand off and change into his work clothes before heading out for another long day.


	2. The Dream (Sora)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora thinks about his reoccurring dreams, fragments of a childhood memory, while waking up early to help chaperone his work's swim team.

The dream was always the same, Sora used to think that it was a nightmare that stemmed from his parents retelling of the day he almost drowned off the shore of Destiny Island.

They had treated it as a really traumatic experience, so he just assumed the trauma caused the dreams.

To him it was an oddly peaceful memory.

He was seven at the time, playing hide and seek on the beach with his younger brother Roxas.

Sora remembers hiding behind a large rock that stuck out of the water. The small waves submerged his lower half as he chuckled softly, Roxas will never find me here.

And he didn’t, after that thought he remembered slipping into the water, a rush of cold, a lack of air. Then warm arms and lapping waves of sleep.

The rest was choppy and faint.

A flash of silver, sea green fins and pale arms, were that he could put together.

~

Sora groaned as he reached around to find his phone and shut off the blaring alarm.

He rolled away from it and hid up to his spikey chestnut hair in the warm red comforter. Trying to lose himself in sleep but no amount of effort would let him succeed.

A few minutes later he pushed off the covers and sighed.

It was early morning, the sun peeked through his window blinds, welcoming and warm.

The brunette remembered why he was up so early after staring sleepily at his bedroom wall.

He had volunteered to help out at the swim meet, he normally would be observing the open swim section of the pool during this time but they had just finished training a new lifeguard so he technically had the day off.

He took the opportunity to help chaperone the Radiant Garden Swim Team during their away game in Twilight Town. He had been to Twilight Town before but it had been a few years.

Roxas’s best friend Axel lived there so he didn’t have to worry about booking a hotel.

Sora jumped out of bed, now beaming with excitement, and ran into his bathroom to shower.

Even despite the beach incident twelve years ago, he loved the water. He always wanted to be in the water, whether it was the shower, the ocean, or the pool.

Water calmed him and the thought of it excited him.

That’s why he took the lifeguard job the second he could work. It wasn’t that much pay but it made him happy, and with Roxas working as well it was enough to sustain a college-age lifestyle in Radiant Garden.

It wasn’t much compared to the lifestyle the kids that they went to high school with sported. But it was more than enough for the brothers.

They could visit their parents whenever they wanted, and they could work at their dream jobs.

Sora showered, dried, dressed and left for the transit station.

He had promised the team he’d meet them before they boarded the trams for Twilight Town, and he never broke a promise.


	3. Boring Swim Meets and Bistros (Sora)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora travels to Twilight Town with the Radiant Garden swim team. He plans to stay overnight at his brother's best friend, Axel's, apartment. They meet up after the meet and have lunch at the famous local bistro, where Sora meets a cute waiter.

He had arrived ten minutes earlier than everyone else to make sure that he wouldn’t be late and so if any kids showed up early he could make sure they were safe.

He was only nineteen so he was a few years older than the kids on the team and quite a bit younger than the other adults that worked with the team, but he was such a friendly boy that they acted like he was one of their good friends no matter what age.

It made the tram ride over way more fun. They joked and laughed all the way there.

Sora was bummed that he didn’t get to be in the pool, it was more boring to watch the kids swim then he thought. He was used to jumping in every once in a while to help someone back to the shallow end of the pool when they couldn’t stay up in the deep end. But these teens were trained swimmers, so he had nothing to do.

It felt like ages till the competitions ended for the day, but eventually he was able to leave and meet up with Axel at the bistro.

Axel was for sure Roxas’s best friend but any friend of Roxas’s was a friend of Soras.

They had agreed to meet up by the Moogle shop tram stop, which was the closest one to the bistro.

Sora felt like he had been waiting for almost an hour, he checked his phone, still no texts.

Where is he?

“Hey-a Sora!” Sora whipped around to see the sassy redhead walking up to him.

His hair was slicked back, and he was wearing tight black leather pants and a deep red button-up, that wasn’t exactly buttoned up. The shirt matched the color of his high tops almost perfectly.

“You’re early.” Axel said cockily.

“No you’re just late.” Sora said quoting his brother, he always said that as Axel was always late.

“Fashionably late,” Axel had strode right up to Sora, till they were uncomfortably close. He leaned down and took Soras chin between his thumb and forefinger.

“And you can’t deny that I look absolutely stunning.” He whispered with a grin, before letting go and stepping towards the Bistro, leaving Sora in a blushed frozen state.

Axel was always flirty but never with him, whenever they were alone he was always closed off and almost angry. Sora never understood why, so this was odd. Axel was already dating Saix and he wasn’t Soras “type” either. So it was nothing, just not normal.

Sora escaped his thoughts, something he got lost in often. Turning on his heels and stumbling after Axel.

“I wouldn’t say absolutely stunning,” he said when he caught up to his friend.

“I would if I were you, judging by how you looked me up when you saw me, and how you stood there blushing when I mentioned it. Yes, I noticed, I’m not blind,” he said in response to the mess of a nineteen year old walking next to him.

“Whatever,” Sora mumbled under his breath, now frustrated and embarrassed.

In only a few more minutes they reached the steps of the Bistro. Walking inside the two boys were greeted by a blonde girl who looked to be in her late teens as well.

“Welcome to the Bistro, I’m Naminé! How many people today?”

“Just us two,” Axel said and they were led to a booth towards the back of the restaurant.

It wasn’t very large, you could fit maybe four people comfortably, but that large of a group was a rare sight in this restaurant.

Not to say it wasn’t busy, it was just always packed with couples.

Sora had practically begged Axel to reserve seats regardless of people possibly seeing them as a couple, it had the best food in town and Roxas had been many times with his girlfriend Kairi or Axel, but he’d never been himself.

They sat down in the booth and Naminé handed them their menus.

“Your waiter will be over soon, in the meantime is there anything I can get you to drink?” the hostess asked.

“Just some water for now, thank you,” Sora said smiling.

“Same here, but sparkling,” Axel said with a smirk.

“Alright I’ll let your waiter know and he’ll get that right to you, enjoy!” Naminé said, scribbling the order down and walking towards a waiter with long messy silver hair. She handed him the paper and he disappeared into the kitchen while she went back to the front of the restaurant.

Sora turned back to Axel after watching the exchange, “Sparkling water? Really? It’s a good thing you’re paying,” he said giggling.

“Hey, I can live a lavish life if I want to.” Axel replied and rolled his eyes, leaning back against the comfy walls of the booth.

Sora ignored his comment and looked back at the menu in his hands, struggling to make a decision on what to eat, every dish sounded so fancy. All with no description and with fancy French names.

He sighed and bit his lips, he was lost trying to translate even one of the meal options despite the French class he took in high school.

He didn’t even notice the water glass set in front of him by the silverette. Axel noticed Sora was out of it, after the third time the waiter tried to ask him if he was ready to order, and coughed to get his attention.

“Huh?” Sora said looking up puzzled, following Axel’s eyes over to meet the aquamarine eyes of the boy standing next to him.

“Oh sorry, I’m a bit lost, I’ve never been here before and don’t understand what anything is.” he said guiltily, he would’ve probably just read off a random name from the menu but he felt safe under the silverette’s gaze.

“Well, if you want I can describe some of them, or if not I can surprise you?” The waiter offered, not breaking eye contact.

“Uhm, surprise me I guess, I trust you,” Sora said before blushing bright red, I don’t even know him, what am I saying.

“Well if that’s the case then I won’t disappoint, is there anything else I can get you two?”

“No that’ll be all for now, thanks uhm..”

“Riku.”

“Got it, thank you Riku,” Axel said and Riku turned to walk towards the kitchen once again.

As soon as Sora lost his gaze he sighed deeply. Apparently having held his breath. And once Riku was out of sights, Sora’s head fell against the table, cradled in his hands.

“Wow, kid. He probably would think you were insane, if he hadn’t been flirting with you the whole time.” Axel said laughing.

Sora groaning in response, he’d be blushing more if that was possible.

“Wait, look up so I can send Roxas a picture,” Axel said, still chuckling.

He didn’t listen, he just stayed as he was too embarrassed to be made fun of by Roxas as well. But Axel just sent Roxas a picture of that and exchanged texts with him about the situation.

After the giggles from across the table stopped, Sora slowly glanced up and grabbed his water glass so he could focus on sipping water instead of blushing.

After a few minutes of silence, Riku returned with two plates, placing one in front of Axel and the other infront of Sora, winking as their gazes connected once more.

“Ratatouille. I didn’t ask about any allergies, so it was the safest bet. It’s also the specialty here, and a personal favorite. I can get something for the side if it isn’t filling enough, and because it was a surprise it’s on me.” Riku said nervously, he could see a slight blush appearing on the waiter's face.

“It’ll be perfect because you chose it,” Sora said, deciding to flirt back cautiously.

It looked delicious anyways so he was excited. Riku smiled at this, “I’m glad! I’ll check in in a bit, holler if you need anything. Enjoy!”

He left the boys to eat, Sora savored every bite he could.

Axel teased him more but they ended up just discussing life updates. Sora finished his meal and slid the plate away from him.

He noticed that it left behind a slip of paper folded neatly.

It was a number he assumed belonged to Riku.

He shoved it in his pocket before Axel noticed, and soon Riku came to check in and take the dishes, handing them the receipt for the food he paid for. Along with a package containing two slices of a fruit tart.

“Till next time,” Riku said.

“Till then,” Sora responded with a soft smile. And they left for Axel's apartment.


	4. Just Another Shift (Riku)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku's side of the encounter at the Bistro.

For the majority of Riku’s shift it was business as usual. Bussing tables, taking orders, and serving meals.

It was immensely boring, until he got assigned to the table of a familiar brunette.

He had just finished bussing the recently vacated tables, he hated cleaning up after people, and a lot of the bistros customers couldn’t keep their crumbs on their plates.

It almost made him wish he had stayed in the ocean permanently.

While setting out silverware for the tables next occupants he was approached by a coworker.

She was petite and blonde, and shy outside of work.

Somehow she managed to be a hostess and if you were a customer you’d probably never think twice about how friendly and lively she presented herself to be.

They hadn’t talked much because Riku spends the majority of his days with himself. But on the few occasions they did talk or hang out, he thought she was a pretty nice person.

And she was amazing at drawing.

He wasn’t really too interested in making friends, as he had grown to like his secluded lifestyle, but if he had to call someone his friend it would be her.

“Hey Riku! I have come to save you from bussing tables,” the girl said with a friendly smile, “There’s a couple of boys in booth four that you can wait on.” Naminé said.

That was the girls name, Naminé, it was a unique one but it fit her perfectly.

“Thanks Naminé, carrying all those dishes was a pain, you’re a lifesaver!” he sighed in relief.

“No problem, oh the brunette wants water and the redhead wants sparkling water to drink! Here’s the slip so you don’t forget, but it shouldn’t be too hard to remember.” She said and offered a torn out page from her order book.

He took it with a grin and walked over to the kitchen to grab the two drinks.

He wondered if other people would agree that sparkling water was so extra. If you want water just get water and if you want something fizzy get soda or at least something with flavor.

He sighed, placing the two filled glasses on his serving tray and took it out the kitchen door.

Booth four wasn’t far from the kitchen so he felt lucky in that sense. If they ordered a ton of food he’d still be able to feel his arms by the end of the day, at that was his hope.

He approached their table and greeted the two men, “Hello my name is Riku and I’ll be your waiter for the evening,” he set the glasses in front of their respective people.

“Are you ready to order?” He glanced at the two boys, jotting down the sassy-looking redheads meal, before turning to the brunette.

He tried not to be rude in getting his attention, but the boy looked so focused reading through his menu.

He had beautifully tanned skin that was decorated with a freckle here and there. His hair was messy but in a good way, it was almost spikey.

If anyone could pull off a spikey bedhead look it was this bronze beauty.

The redhead finally got the boys attention with a cough, in doing so he also snapped Riku back into work mode.

The brunette looked up nervously. His deep blue eyes glancing up at him.

He was immediately reminded of Sora, the boy he saved on the beach almost twelve years ago.

He was almost a spitting image of that kid, at least from what Riku could remember.

“Oh sorry, I’m a bit lost, I’ve never been here before and don’t understand what anything is.” The boy said, he seemed shy but normally people who didn’t know what to eat just got what their friend ordered or something random, so maybe he was confident but just confused.

“Well, if you want I can describe some of them, or if not I can surprise you?”

If this was Sora, Riku would for sure flirt. Apparently years of wanting to see someone again can lead one to a crush.

So he gave it a whirl, not moving from the gaze of his beautiful blue eyes.

“Uhm, surprise me I guess, I trust you,” the boy said as his face flushed red.

Good choice, Riku thought.

“Well if that’s the case then I won’t disappoint, is there anything else I can get you two?” He said, breaking the exchanged gaze, and immediately hearing a sigh from the brunette.

“No that’ll be all for now, thanks uhm..” the redhead said. He was pretty sure he’d introduced himself, but it didn’t hurt to do so again now that he had the brunette's attention.

“Riku.” He said with a smile while taking their menus.

“Got it, thank you Riku,” He nodded and turned to deliver the order slip to the kitchen.

He panicked for a second when he realized he didn’t know anything about the brunettes eating habits or allergies, but he settled on his favorite dish. It also happened to be a safe bet, as it wasn’t made with meat or dairy here.

He scribbled it down and handed the slip to the chef before taking another piece of paper and writing his cell number on it.

He rarely used it. It was mostly just an emergency purchase for work.

It wouldn’t hurt to be able to talk more with the boy.

If it was really Sora sitting in that booth, he wanted with all his heart to stay in touch.

He had promised himself to keep him safe all those years ago. He couldn’t let himself pass up the opportunity to do just that.

He grabbed the now cooked meals and set them on his tray, folding the paper neatly in his hand. He walked the food over to the table. The maybe-Sora sipping his water while the two sat in silence.

Riku set the redhead’s food in front of him. Turning to maybe-Sora and placing his dish down as well, sneaking his number under it.

He winked and explained his decision, now nervous for the brunettes approval.

“Ratatouille. I didn’t ask about any allergies, so it was the safest bet. It’s also the specialty here, and a personal favorite. I can get something for the side if it isn’t filling enough, and because it was a surprise it’s on me.”

Please don’t hate it, he thought to himself nervously.

The maybe-Sora seemed to notice his worry and said, “It’ll be perfect because you chose it!”

A smile crept onto Riku’s face, internally he both sighed with relief and gushed about how cute the boy was.

It sounded sincere and the brunette looked excited.

“I’m glad! I’ll check in in a bit, holler if you need anything. Enjoy!” He left them to enjoy their meals and silently gave himself a pat on the back.

He went to help Naminé serve and bus other tables, until the pair had finished their food.

He went to the register, brought up their tab, added two fruit tart slices to go, slid his card and printed the receipt.

He boxed the tart slices from the display next to the register and walked the receipt and tarts to booth four.

“Till next time,” Riku said.

“Till then,” Sora responded with a soft smile.

And Riku watched them leave out the bistro doors and into the evening, before finishing up the last hour of his shift and doing the same.

He rode the tram to the stop closest to his small home and walked the rest of the way.

Another relieved sigh left his lungs as soon as he shut his front door behind him.

He trudged over to the kitchen and placed a quick meal in the microwave.

He didn’t have to worry about groceries because he had the whole ocean outside his door but as his trips underwater got farther apart he got used to buying quick meals to heat up after a long work day.

While it cooked he walked to his bedroom and exchanged his work uniform for a pair of navy sweatpants and a grey tank top.

While folding his uniform he heard a text alert come from his phone.

Reaching in the pocket, he grabbed his phone and headed back to the kitchen. He took the meal out of the microwave and placed it on the counter to cool briefly.

The message notification chimed again, reminding him to check it. He unlocked his phone and looked at the notification.

A text from an unknown number.

Recalling that he gave the brunette his number earlier that evening, Riku read the text.

“Hi, I hope I’m assuming correctly when I think this number belongs to Riku. If so you gave it to me at the Bistro. I was the brunette with spiky hair that can’t read menus. My name’s Sora, and it’s nice to meet you,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are liking this, if you made it this far. It's my first time writing fan fiction, or any story for that matter. And I threw the first few chapters out pretty late at night, and unedited. I have a vague plan of the story but it's as much for me as it is for you. The ships are just my personal preferences for each character, more or less. And the characters and worlds (towns) belong to Square Enix. May our hearts be our guiding keys!


	5. The Text

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora stays at Axels place for the night, without much talking. He texts Riku until he falls asleep. Riku goes for a swim to clear his head and bumps into someone he never thought he'd see again.

(Sora)

It didn’t take long for the two to arrive at Axel’s apartment.

They chatted a bit on the way but conversation was short lived as the normally chatty brunette was worn out from the day's activities.

The apartment wasn’t big, it was a one bedroom but the living area had a couch bed he had gotten for when the twins stayed over.

Axel had retreated to his room shortly after setting up the bed for Sora.

Overall, the amount of conversation between the two was normal for a day of hanging out, so Sora didn’t expect any more from him.

He still had a while till he needed to go to sleep, so he decided to rinse off.

He had showered this morning but after the long day at the pool jealously watching other people enjoy the water, and with the warmer climate of Twilight Town, he thought it wasn’t too unreasonable to take another shower. Plus Axel didn’t ever mind.

Roxas and him had used his shower plenty of times after all of the adventures they used to have in the sunny town.

It had been a while since then but they still had a bin of shower stuff in the bathroom cabinet from when they were last there.

Sora grabbed the extra towel and some body wash. Sighing, he shut the bathroom door, placed the stuff down, and took off his jacket.

A paper fell from the pocket and he remembered that it was the number from the cute boy at the Bistro.

He picked it up, grabbed his phone and leaned against the counter behind him while he entered it into his phone. He opened a new message chat with the number.

The boy's name was Riku, right? Sora thought to himself but as soon as he went to type a message his mind went blank.

What should I say?

Uhm.. I’ll just be formal but friendly. Just in case he wasn’t flirting.

“Hi, it’s the..”

No.

“Hi, my name’s Sora, I’m..”

No what if it’s not Riku’s number but the host’s number.

Or what if he doesn’t remember it was me.

Ahh uhm, just be yourself Sora it’s fine just put something out there.

“Hi, I hope I’m assuming correctly when I think this number belongs to Riku. If so you gave it to me at the Bistro. I was the brunette with spiky hair that can’t read menus. My name’s Sora, and it’s nice to meet you,” he typed.

“Whatever, that works..” He said sighing and pressing send.

Placing his phone on the counter, he turned on the shower and stripped as it warmed up. He stepped in the shower, melting under the rush of warm water on his bare chest.

It had felt like forever since he’d been in the safe embrace of water even though he had showered just that morning.

It made him think about the waiter’s sea-green eyes, they were both equally enticing and calming.

Was he ever going to see them again? He hoped so.

He finished washing up and got out to dry off. Sora slipped on a clean pair of red boxers and a loose black tee.

Before he walked off to bed he hung his towel to dry, put everything away, and grabbed his phone.

There was a response.

He giddily stumbled over to the couch bed. Jumping onto it and pulling the blankets over him to read the message like a giddy teenager.

Taking a deep breath, to calm his nerves, he opened the message.

“Hi Sora, this is Riku. So you guessed correctly. This might be an odd question but have you ever been to Destiny Island? You remind me of someone I met there once..”

Still a bit formal.

How could he remember meeting me before, it’d been years since he lived on the island, and he did seem familiar but he didn’t remember much from before the move.

“I used to live there but that was almost twelve years ago.” he responded hesitantly.

A typing bubble popped up before the phone chimed once more.

“So did I but I moved here very recently, if you don’t mind me asking, what do you do for a living?”

“I’m a lifeguard for one of the pools in Radiant Garden, have you been before?”

Sora smiled giddily when Riku said that he hadn’t, maybe they could have a date there. And he’d show him all his favorite places.

It was wishful thinking that they’d even have a date but it’s an idea nonetheless.

They texted back and forth until Sora fell asleep, barely able to keep his eyes open for half of the conversation.

He learned quite a bit about Riku.

The silverette had a sister named Xion but he hadn’t seen her since he moved, he lived in a small beach house just outside of the town, and they shared a common interest in swimming which was added to his new admiration for the boy.

His dream started the same, slipping into sleep he found himself running across the beach with his brother. Then he was in the water, awaiting the blur of incomplete memories.

It never came, instead he saw Riku, his pale arms pulling him to shore and his turquoise eyes meeting his own through silver bangs.

It was new, and Sora thought it was just because of the day's events.

But he fit in the memory so perfectly.

~~

(Riku)

The two had texted for a while before Sora stopped responding, probably fallen into the depths of sleep.

“Goodnight beautiful, sleep well.”

he texted before shutting his phone off for the night.

He had finished his meal already so he decided to clean up a bit.

It had to have been destiny, he thought.

After all this time he found Sora, or maybe Sora found him. Either way he was here.

They could talk, maybe even hang out.

It was so perfect, and so right.

But Riku knew he had to play it cool, they barely knew each other.

Maybe in the morning he’d ask him out on a date and they could talk it out.

Until then he needed to swim, not physically as he stayed under the day before, but just to clear his head.

He trudged out the back door once again and followed the sandy path to the water.

He slipped out of his clothes, which he folded into a neat pile on the rock beside him.

He shivered while covering the distance between the moonlit sand and the lapping waves. The more Riku was away from the sea the colder the water felt.

It was a cloudless and starry night, though compared to the warm sunny days here the nights were always blanketed in a cold breeze.

Riku savored the salty water lapping at his legs, which somehow felt better than when it surrounded his tail.

It wasn’t as painful to shift as it was the night before, so after wading deeper into the water he dove under and let out a sigh before his legs fused together and became a tail.

He used to hate it’s unique color, a light aquamarine color just like his irises.

His sister and father were a darker blue color, although duller than Sora’s, deep blue eyes.

It made him wonder how Sora’s tail would look if he were to have one.

It wasn’t normal to have such a light color tail, and on top of being half human he was easily the territory's laughing stalk.

When he started staying on land however it became the source of many compliments. Almost everyone he talked to complicated his eyes, which was in turn a compliment to his tail.

At least in his mind. I

t took him a moment to realize he wasn’t the only one around.

“Xion.. What are you doing here?” He said turning in surprise to see his sister nervously holding her arms, silvery tears streaming down her cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, these two are an awkward pair. Will Sora and Riku go out tomorrow? Or will Riku be too preoccupied with Xion? And why is Xion so far away from the Island. 
> 
> (please leave constructive criticism, it helps a lot)
> 
> :)


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